Affections Across Time
by Lost Seeress
Summary: A Blind Miko and A Youkai Prince touch each other even across the vast expanse of time


So you all know that Inuyasha song "Affections Across Time" right? Well I love that song. I've according to my media player, listened to it 58000 times. (im not kidding. It plays constantly) So I thought, What would be a good story to accompany it? Since its sad it would need a sad story. So here is my story interpretation of the song.

**Affections Across Time**

by Vague/Seeress

From as long as she could remember, Kagome Higurashi had always been able to feel things. Unlike most humans who went about their lives blissfully oblivious to the going-ons around them, she was not granted that privilege. A young seer had told her family that she was born the most powerful Miko of the twentieth century and that she should see her powers as not a curse but a gift.

Growing up within a home where her family was not as rich as most others, Kagome and her younger brother, Souta did not get to have as many of the privileges as the others. She had been born with failing eyesight and her family had to live with the fact that in the next few years, her vision would worsen until she had lost the priceless sense of sight.

All that could save her life was an operation, but things were never as black and white as that. As her family was not the richest, the possibility of them ever being able to afford this operation was impossible. The entire town remembered the day when Kagome got that news. Her smile, ever present, had been brittle, as she tried to put on a brave face.

Her family, which included her mother and grandfather, as well as her little brother, had always tried their best to be good to their neighbours, and in turn they received genuine love and support from the majority of the town. No one wanted to see such a happy child lose her sight because of lack of money and so they held a meeting in private.

Kagome and the Higurashi family had aided them greatly and it was their time to help. Certain figure heads of the town called upon the doctor who had diagnosed Kagome and asked how long it would take before it became too late and how much money was needed. Although they had money, it would take them all some time to gather it all together. They wanted to thank the Higurashi family for all their years of kindness by paying for Kagome's operation.

Not knowing of the generous act being placed together by the town, Kagome tried her best not to allow her impending blindness to dampen her spirits. She was a girl who believed that there was a reason for everything and if it was her destiny to lose her vision then she would bare it with grace. She began a tiny scrap book of images and touches that would help her remember colours in the years to come. As well she had begun practicing Braille.

As the months went by and Kagome continued to progress, her vision lessening gradually until all she could see were blurs and shadows, she began to gain enemies. They were people who envied her. She was not rich, and she would be blind shortly yet her cheerfulness and always ready smile planted seeds of envy and jealousy within the hearts of a few class mates

While walking home one day, taking the semi isolated short cut through the minor wooded area to her family shrine, those students made their envy into something physical.

--

Walking down the path, her cane in hand, Kagome whistled a cheery tune. She did this every time. It was silly but she held the hope in her heart that one day if she sang it just right, the birds would fly down and join her like they did on television. She knew this was silly, yet she could not stop the hope of such a thing happening. It brought a smile to her face and chased away the fear that lurked just below the surface.

With a sudden force, she felt herself falling roughly to the ground, her arms jarring as they made an unprepared collision with the ground. She felt tears sting her eyes as tiny stones dug through her flesh at the impact. Panic set in. She could hear harsh laughter but she was unable to see anything and so frantically she looked around, straining to see what was happening.

It was in that attempt that she felt the blow. Someone struck her in the face with what felt like a rock. With a startled pained filled cry, she felt something thick cloud her already impaired vision. Her eyes stung, but she did not have time to deal on the confusion and pain as another assailant picked up her cane and started to strike her. Covering her face, she could hear muffled sounds of anger.

The swearing and hate filled words rose into a gargled growl of demonic incantations as they rained blows on her. She cried and prayed for it to all go away. She had never felt so much pain in her life. Trembling in fear and anguish she begged for an escape.

Her senses began to blur. She could feel the pain lessening until it felt like she was merely observing it all from somewhere else. She wanted to escape and so she allowed herself to grasp onto that blurring feeling until the frightening crescendo of hatred died down into silence.

Terrified, she slowly lifted her head. No longer on the dirtied floors of the woods, she laid her head back down and cried.

"Why are you in my chambers?" a cold voice asked. It sounded like he was not to far away and Kagome's heart stumbled. i Had they returned/i Whimpering, she tried to shrink more into herself to protect against the blows that would surely follow. She waited and the silence stretched. After what felt like eons suffocating in fear, she felt it ebb down to manageable levels.

Raising her head, she caught one single image before her world resided in darkness once again. Gasping she held a hand to her throat as if to contain the sound that had already escaped. He looked like an angel, soaked through as if he had just stepped out of the rain. Silver white hair, as whispery as the moonlight, hung heavily from his head, weighted by the water. His golden eyes gazed upon her inquiring.

"Have you contained yourself wench?" he asked and so she felt no other choice than to lift herself off the ground. Maybe he was an angel, she was not sure. With blind hands, she looked around her trying to catch a glimpse of what lay beyond her path with her fingers. "How did you get within here?"

"I-I don't know," she said finally, her voice shook as she tried to make out the surroundings. "I- I was taking a shortcut home…" her voice trailed away as she tried to calm herself. "It seems I was attacked by some people," she said in an almost flippant tone, but in truth, she was in shock and trying her best not to break down.

"Well that explains your bloodied and battered appearance. However it does not explain why you are here within my bed chambers."

"A-are you an angel?" she asked also looking for an explanation. Maybe she had died. Maybe this was heaven… or hell? Her heart took on a thunderous rhythm as it beat out the song of fear.

Her fears were laid to rest as he let out a stark bitter laugh. "I assure you that I am no angel."

She let out a sigh of relief as she continued to make her way across the room, familiarizing her self with the layout. She was close to him now. She could feel his voice vibrating through her.

"Then what are you?" she asked again touching each surface to determine where everything was. She could feel that he was different. He was not human.

"You are blind," he said instead. It was truly unusual to enter his bed chambers after a bath and find a blood, battered child laying upon his floor, huddled in fear.

She smiled sadly as she let her sorrow of her fading vision surface for the first time, "Not yet but soon. Although I might as well be as all I see now are shadows and flickers of movement."

He watched her make her way around his chambers, touching each surface with thoughtful fingers and he allowed her the leisure She drifted near his dresser with the mirror and cushioned chair, his wardrobe filled with his silken attire, the various cabinets as well as a changing screen. She was probably a sprite lost on her journey somewhere, though that did not explain why she was so battered.

His cunning eyes watched her move closer to him as she almost finished her trip around his room. "Who attacked you?" he asked. She was only a few feet away now and he could strongly smell the scent of her blood. She had not stopped blinding he could tell. There was a particularly horrible gash upon her face, directly below her eyes.

She drew nearer and her hands touched his thighs. Immediately he drew in a deep breath. Her touch was yet firm; however he felt it through him. Maybe it was because no one dared touch him. He had not felt the touch of another in too long a time. With curiosity, he allowed her her search of him. Her hands were soft as they gently cupped his face. She looked right at him, straining what little vision she had left.

Then her eyes opened wide as she gasped. "You are an angel!" she breathed as she looked unto his face.

"I thought you were unable to see," he stated ignoring her awed tone as well as her comment about him being an angel.

"I'm not, yet I can see you so clearly. Isn't that a mystery?" she asked before letting her hands fall to her side. Confident that she now knew the layout of the room, she stood up straight and looked at him through unseeing eyes.

"Are you not in pain?" he asked. He did not really know why he asked however he figured she would not be there for long and there was nothing wrong with satisfying his curiosity.

Lifting her hands to her face, she touched the sticky wetness before bringing it to her nose. Blood. She was bleeding and she had not thought about it until he asked. "No. Surprisingly I feel nothing, yet when they were attacking me it hurt so incredibly much. I think someone struck me in the face with a rock or something. Why would anyone do such a thing? I've done nothing to them," she was slowly sinking back into melancholia.

He did not know what to say to her and so he simply said, "Do not think about it. It will only distress you further. Who ever attacked you so unjustly will be repaid in time."

She sighed so sadly and it was like all the energy left through her being and evaporated into nothingness. She could feel herself fading. With the blurring reality the pain was returning and she realized that she was returning to her home.

"My name is Kagome. What's yours?" she asked in a gasp of pain. It was so intense that she felt nauseated. Her entire being shook as she struggled to remain on her feet.

With a considering look, he watched her sightless eyes cloud over with her pain, her body shook violently. Pity assailed him then. No one should suffer as much as this young woman was.

"I am the Inu no Taisho, Sesshoumaru," he said just before he watched a smile touch her lips through the grimace and she faded away from him.

---

Kagome opened her eyes and started to cry. She hurt so much. She could not see a thing. She was alone. Crying, she lay there until she heard footsteps approaching. With a shuddered whimper, she quickly covered her face to hide away from her attackers.

"It is alright Miss Higurashi. I am Miroku, a paramedic at your local hospital and I am here to help you," he said, his voice filled with sympathy. He watched the bloodied woman, her skin turning purple in multiple spots cry and so trying his best to comfort her, he started to speak to take her mind off the pain that he knew she was feeling.

"You are very lucky. You have your friends Sango and Inuyasha to thank for your rescue. It seems young Inuyasha's girlfriend over heard some students at school plotting to attack you." He said as he slowly dabbed her face. Another pair of arms was working to staunch the bleeding in various spots before they lifted her up into the gurney to take her to the hospital.

"Luckily the young lady was worried and asked her boyfriend to walk you home. Unfortunately though, he said that he got there too late as he had to stop to tell your other friend Miss Sango," he continued to stay as they bandaged some of the more serious wounds.

"She stayed here with you while Inuyasha ran all the way to the hospital to get us. He told us what happened on the way here. You have great friends and they probably saved your life from what I was told," he said just as he gave her an injection that caused her to lose consciousness...

---

Sesshoumaru watched the young girl fade away. He did not know why she had come to him or where she came from but he had found the entire exchange to be interesting. With the events of the night playing through his mind, he prepared for bed. i Kagome… /i he thought just as his eyes drifted closed.


End file.
